80 Series software was originally available on cartridge tapes. By the advent of the HP-86 and HP-87, most software was distributed on 5.25 and/or 3.5 inch floppy discs.

The HP-85 and HP-83 are software compatible with each other. The HP-86 and HP-87 are software compatible with each other. However, the 83/85 computers are not software compatible with the 86/87 computers (although they are close). If you want to run an application on an HP-86/87, it needs to be the 86/87 version of that application. If you have discs that are marked "80 Series", you will be able to do a successful CAT command from either an 83/85 or from an 86/87. However, you will not be able to load a program unless it is for your specific computer (and you have the correct ROMs for the program). Common errors that occur when you attempt to load the wrong program type are memory errors and "Please Wait" (forever).

Software manuals for which we do not have media are posted on the HP-85. page.

Click here for instructions on how to create working discs from the downloaded file.

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